World Monuments Fund Triples Endowment to Over $100 Million

The World Monuments Fund has raised $62 million, surpassing its $60 million fundraising goal 18 months ahead of schedule. The successful endowment campaign, launched publicly less than a year ago to mark the organization's 60th anniversary, triples the fund's financial resources for safeguarding cultural heritage worldwide. Endowment net assets are now expected to exceed $100 million by 2028.

Bénédicte de Montlaur, WMF's president and CEO, highlighted the urgency driving the campaign. "Cultural heritage is being lost to conflict, climate change, neglect, and urbanization faster than the world can respond," she said. The New York-based nonprofit, founded in 1965, has worked to preserve more than 700 sites across 114 countries.

Major donor contributions

The campaign was propelled by several landmark gifts. A $20 million Endowment Challenge Grant from The Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust matched every dollar raised by 50 percent, up to a maximum of $40 million in donations by the end of 2027. The Suzanne Deal Booth Institute for Heritage Preservation secured $21 million in endowed funds. Philanthropist and WMF board member Suzanne Deal Booth personally contributed $10 million toward that institute.

Other significant contributions included a $1 million donation from the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust to WMF’s Crisis Response Program and a gift between $5 million and $10 million from Virginia James. The campaign saw 100 percent participation from the organization's Board of Trustees. Donors also included Susan de Menil, Stephen Lash, Annabelle Selldorf, and Christian Louboutin.

Program impact and new initiatives

The influx of capital will finance new and expanded programs. Virginia James's funding will support the Bridge to Craft Careers pilot project in New Orleans. Two new endowment-funded positions have been established: an archivist named for Denise Littlefield Sobel and a Senior Manager position named for John F. Wieland Jr. A $2 million endowment from John F. Wieland Jr. will support the World Monuments Watch, the fund's biennial program for identifying threatened sites.

WMF also raised $4 million for immediate field preservation projects and $2.5 million for its offices in Peru and Great Britain. A new Preservation Impact Fund is being created to engage global supporters. The income from the enlarged endowment will support research, education, and training through the Suzanne Deal Booth Institute.

Strategic outlook

The campaign's success coincides with the launch of a new five-year strategic plan to expand WMF's international reach and deepen cultural heritage protection. The plan aims to broaden global support for preservation work. Current projects illustrating this global scope include a three-month, 250,000-euro restoration of the Golden Hall at Milan's Poldi Pezzoli Museum, completed in mid-September, and a five-year restoration of the Loggia di Raffaello in the Vatican, supported by a $14.275 million donation from the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation.

The World Monuments Fund is now positioned to significantly scale its operations. With a tripled endowment and a fresh strategic mandate, the organization is preparing to confront the accelerating threats to the world's cultural heritage on a broader front than ever before.